Culture
17 Nov 21

NY lawmakers aim to limit the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials

State senators Brad Hoylman and Jamaal Bailey will present new legislation which would prevent the abuse of rap lyrics as evidence this week.

Two New York state lawmakers will soon be unveiling new legislation aiming to make it harder for prosecutors to use rap lyrics as evidence in court cases.

When Bob Marley released ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ or when Johnny Cash sang that he "killed a man in Reno", no one in their right mind would have taken it as an admission of guilt. Yet in 2001, rapper McKinley Phipps Jr. (aka Mac Phipps) was sentenced for manslaughter after a trial that leaned heavily on his rap persona Camouflage Assassin and his violent lyrics.

There was no physical evidence and a member of Phipps’s entourage even confessed to the crime. Still, the rapper was convicted to serve 30 years behind bars.

Phipps’ case is not a one-off, with hundreds of trials through the United States seeing the use of rap lyrics as evidence. Now, State Senators Brad Hoylman and Jamaal Bailey aim to put a stop to that. According to Rolling Stone, the two Democratic lawmakers are planning to introduce new legislation this week that would increase the hurdles for prosecutors to use rap lyrics as evidence in the state of New York.

“There’s a glaring double standard that often happens when it comes to artists of colour,” Bailey said while speaking with the Rolling Stone. “There’s a lyric by Jay-Z that always speaks to me: "Scarface the movie did more than Scarface the rapper to me." It underlines the point that we don’t see this happening with movies. We don’t see this happening with other forms of creative expression. But we see it happening with hip-hop.”

Hoylman argues that the practice is a dangerous infringement into artistic expression as well as being deeply rooted in racial biases. The state senators hope that the bill will be successful given the recent shift in discourse over race and social justice.

“There’s a social justice component to this that meets the moment,” Hoylman explained.

Mac Phipps was released earlier this year, having been granted clemency by the governor of Louisiana after having served 21 years of his sentence.

For more information on Mac Phipps' trial, check out the below interview: